UPDATE: As of Jan. 2, West Vancouver says they are closing clothing donation bins and looking into removing them or using more secure bins
Advocates are calling for clothing donation bins dotted around the Lower Mainland to be recalled and replaced, in the wake of the death of a 34-year-old man in West Vancouver over the weekend.
His was the second donation bin death of 2018 and the fifth in the past several years across Metro Vancouver.
"If this was a toy or a product used by our general population and not by our most vulnerable members of our society, this would have been recalled at the first injury or death," said Nicole Mucci, a spokesperson for the Union Gospel Mission. "We are now at five deaths."
Donation bin openings are designed to close once a donation has been placed in the bin, but don't allow someone who is trapped to swing it inwards.
Back in November, a group of UBC students worked to design new bins that would help save lives.
"We do think they (donation bins) think they need to be pulled from the streets because people keep dying and we need to protect our most vulnerable citizens," said Mucci.
An off-duty doctor found the latest victim, trapped in the chute of a bin at the entrance to West Vancouver's Ambleside Park on Sunday morning.
"We don't specifically know how long the individual was in that circumstance before being found," said Const. Jeff Palmer with West Vancouver Police Department.
Firefighters and paramedics were called to the area and tried to resuscitate the man, but he couldn't be saved. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
"To know his family is now ringing in the new year with heartbreak and sadness rather than happiness and hope is quite sad to think about," said Mucci
With a report from CTV Vancouver's Shannon Paterson
